Thank you for saying this! I did too. I wish people wouldn’t say things (as people have in this thread) like “thrashing around in pain really only happens in movie births.” When I was pregnant, I remember hearing and reading that labor pain was largely mental and that if I educated myself and did my Lamaze, the pain…

Consent is all. And people who are in for a medical procedure should be in a position to agree to everything that happens to them. But any doctor or EMT can tell you there are times when that simply is not possible.

@resplendent.bitch: Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the snark - I too just reacted without thinking ;p

@Loranys: Yeah, I dashed that off first thing in the morning, and having gone back and looked over a lot of the comments on the article, I realize I was pretty glib. A lot of women have been through some horrifying experiences, and it makes me question what goes on in our hosiptals and medical schools that so many…

@cait98:

@cdnfeminista: Also, reading back, I think I only used male pronouns when talking about my surgery, with a doctor who was male.

@cait98: Ditto. I just think part of the problem is that "rape" is the one word that doesn't require a long, drawn out explanation. People know what rape is, and they have at least a vague understanding of what it can do to a person.

@stmito1: Yes, I totally understand and have sympathy for why experiences like the one you describe (or in childbirth) may be traumatizing. I don't discount the trauma, just am opposed to calling it "rape."

@cait98: As to why something might be inserted anally:

@spamanda: i'm a little wary of the pharse " blood curdling" there...seems a bit sensastionalist and makes me doubt the rest of their argument. I have never run into a doctor that would proceed if someone shouted and cried "no, stop". albeit it not in birth, i have definitely been the kicking screaming person, and…

@HardcoreAndSuch: Consent to the procedure.

I'm torn.

@miss.terious: Just do a lot of research now. Make sure you love your doctor/mid-wife and that you've worked out all these issues before hand. Hard labor is a bad time to be talking episiotomies, pitocin, forceps, etc - make sure you know what these things are and when they might come into play for you.

I'm certainly not defending in any way a doctor that deliberately violates his patient during birth (or any other time). But my mother was an obstetrician, and my sister is doing her residency in obstetrics (I'm a law student), and recently they phoned me with a dilemma and wanted to get a "legal" take on it.

@BadBanana: Dude, this is not rape. I think that's what darlinggirl is upset about. She never said that people deserve to be treated badly...you just pulled that out of your ass.

@DarlingGirl: I completely agree with your opinions in regard to the misuse of the word rape. However, why should a woman lose agency over her body just because she's giving birth to a child?

Rape? I don't think so. Gross negligence and malpractice? Bingo.

@emaline: Okay, I phrased that a little wrong. My point is that these people seem to be painting the very experience of giving birth in a hospital as a trauma filled with non-consensual acts. They make it sound like docs are just poking around in there for fun. I agree that things need to be explained, but in the…

That rant by Birth Trauma Truths is a bit extreme. A doctor is supposed to explain to a woman every single slight action he will be taking? I would assume that most women know that labor involves a doctor inserting his fingers and tools in her. The issues they're raising here and the case of Catherine Skol seem to be…